1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support apparatus for optical characteristic measurement by colorimeters, glossmeters, reflectance measuring instruments, transmittance measuring instruments, and other optical characteristic measuring instruments.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the importance of the color conditioning of products has been recognized in the fields of coating, molding, printing, textiles and the like. For this reason, in factories and the like, optical characteristic measurement such as color measurement by a colorimeter or gloss measurement by a glossmeter is frequently performed on objects of measurement such as products and parts.
Conventionally, an image of the measurement object has been used to manage the measurement data obtained by an optical characteristic measuring instrument. That is, the measurement value and the image data of the measurement object are separately captured into the computer, and the operator associates them with each other. It has also been proposed to attach a camera to a radiation thermometer takes an image of a measurement object by the camera simultaneously with the measurement, and superimpose the measurement value on the image of the measurement object taken by the camera when the image is printed. Thereby, the image and the measurement value are associated with each other.
It has also conventionally been proposed to associate the color value data obtained by measuring the color of the image displayed on the display with the position data in the image data in order that the color intended by the creator of the image information can be reproduced when the transmitted image information is reproduced on the receiver side.
However, according to the conventional method in which the measurement value and the image data of the measurement object are associated with each other by the operator, it is not always assured that the measurement value is that of the measurement object represented by the image data, and there is a possibility that the image data is associated with an irrelevant measurement value due to a simple mistake by the operator.
According to the method in which the measurement value is superimposed on the image of the measurement object taken by the camera when the image is printed, since the measurement value is superimposed on the image data, the measurement value cannot be used as it is. To use the measurement value, it is necessary to read the measurement value from the image data and re-input the measurement data by hand, and an input error can occur in that occasion.
According to the method in which the color value data obtained by measuring the color of the image displayed on the display is associated with the position data in the image data, the image data of the measurement object and the measurement value of the measurement object itself are not associated with each other. That is, not the measurement value of the measurement object itself but merely the measurement value of the image data of the measurement object shown on the display or the like is associated with the image data.
In addition, while the measurement object and the measurement part are specified by a language according to the conventional methods, with the specification by a language, there is a possibility that the operator mistakes the measurement object or measurement part when actually performing the measurement.